Osceola County gang leader fires lawyer, to represent himself in attempted-murder trial

Gang leader Michael Rigby (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda,…)

April 11, 2011|By Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel

KISSIMMEE – The head of the Poinciana Bloods street gang dropped his lawyer Friday to defend himself at trial against attempted murder charges and other felonies over gunfire that crippled a guest at a 2009 birthday party.

Michael Rigby drew national notoriety last year when he broke out of the Osceola County Jail's highest security cell block and remained free for nearly 3 months before his capture near New York City.

The escape prompted the County Commission to spend more than $4 million on improved security and prompted the firings of guards along with jail and county administrators.

Rigby is accused of shooting at three women associated with the Bloods, when they sped away a car after one of them was shot during the July 11, 2009 party, records show.

Trial is scheduled to begin Monday afternoon, when Orlando attorney Patricia Cashman, who represented Rigby until last week, will sit at the defense table as standby counsel, records state. Felony cases in which defendants represent themselves remain rare in most courts.

Testimony is expected to disclose details about gang activities in Osceola County which authorities have declined to discuss for years.

In less than two years, four killings in Osceola County have been attributed to gang violence, according to court records and interviews. Only one of those involved a member of the Bloods, records show. The county has about 20 street gangs with more than 400 members. The sheriff's office follows a statewide practice against identifying the crimes gang members commit out of a belief that publicity attracts new members.

Known as "The Ghost," Rigby wrote in lengthy letters to judges that he has been fascinated by the law for years and regularly attended hearings at the Osceola County Courthouse with a girlfriend to study how prosecutors and public defenders argued cases, according to court records.

After the birthday party shooting and Rigby's subsequent escape, the sheriff's office denied it was a gang-related crime despite records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel which identified Rigby as the group's leader.

"Michael is a documented gang member and is known to be the leader of the 'Bloods' gang sector in the Poinciana area," an Osceola gang-unit detective wrote. "All parties involved in this case are either gang members or associates and this party was only for those belonging to the gang of which Michael considers himself to be the leader."

Circuit Judge Scott Polodna sealed court records detailing the shooting at the request of sheriff's detectives. But other court records indicated that shooting victim, Kimberly Rivera, then 20, was Rigby's former girlfriend when shot by his girlfriend, Kayla Vazquez, then 19, in a dispute over his affections.

Vazquez, who pleaded guilty last month to shooting into a building and witness tampering, is expected to testify against Rigby. She remains held without bail. Charges against her for attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm will be dropped at her sentencing in May, according to court records.

Once the shooting trial ends, Rigby faces a separate trial in May over the jail escape. He was re-captured in Paterson, N.J. on April 28 after being featured on Fox's America's Most Wanted television series and tracked by the U.S. Marshal's service.

Cashman is handling Rigby's defense in that case. He remains held without bail on 28 felony charges in the Osceola County Jail.